Book Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

When Katy and her mother move to the middle of nowhere in West Virginia, all she wants is a normal life, to get her blog back in order, read some books and just settle into her new microscopic town. But when her mother makes her go introduce herself to the two neighbors who look her age things don’t go as planned. Katy just wants directions to the grocery store but the boy next door, Daemon, answers her knock her jaw drops to the ground. He is tall, ripped and has the most stunning green eyes she has ever seen but when he opens his mouth she realized how much of a total jerk he is! Dee, Daemon’s twin sister on the other hand is also extremely gorgeous but she is the sweetest person on the planet and becomes fast friends with Katy despite her brother’s disapproval.

As Katy gets to know her new neighbors, things seem well, off with them. They get glared at in public, Daemon has a hot//cold attitude towards Katy, he can do things that should be impossible and part of Dee’s body seemed to just…disappear. Katy has heard old rumors about aliens around town but her neighbors couldn’t possibly be aliens, could they? UM, YES. THEY COULD, CAN, ARE! And when Daemon freezes a truck in time to save Katy from being hit he has to confess to being one of the “Luxen” (apparently super-hot aliens who are made out of light.) Now that she knows about them and their powers the information puts Katy in danger, and because of the Luxen power being used to save her the trace of that powers left on her. The trace lights her up like a beacon for the Luxen and their intergalactic enemy, the Arum, (apparently not that hot and made out of darkness) to see. The Arum want nothing more than to seek out and kill the Luxen, and with Katy lit up for all the aliens to see it makes the Arum’s goal that much easier.

Okay, I seriously liked this story! I read it in one day and couldn’t get enough! Also you don’t know who is more life threatening, Ash, the totally jealous ex-girlfriend of Daemon or the shadowy alien terrorists that want to kill them all. Move over Edward and Jacob there are new freaks in town. And they're hotter.

Recommended age:

16+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

The feels weren’t thaaaat strong for me, I was never sad or really happy about anything that happened in the book I was just SUPER INTERESTED. But I was shipping Katy and Daemon pretty hard so for that alone I’ll give,

5/10

Violence:

There are a few fight scenes, Katy kills a couple of the bad guys and one drags her around like a ragdoll.

5.5/10

Sexual content:

There is an incredibly steamy make-out session where the characters get topless. One character tries to get Katy drunk to sleep with her and Daemon makes everything into an indirect sexual joke. I wouldn’t recommend a teen under 14 or under reading this.

7/10

Crude language:

The book was LITTERED with bad language, it was the only thing I didn't like about the book. There were several of each imaginable profanity used.

8.5/10

Other elements/comments:

Underage drinking is involved and some pretty jerkish behavior from guys.

Overall:

Overall I enjoyed the story, it was full of sassy wit, which I LOVE! Still could have been just as good without some of the stronger language.

9/10

Xoxo

- Sarah

Book Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Okay, so this is going to sound like rambling nonsense because it all jumbled together for me in my head, and im having mixed feelings about whether I liked it or not. Haha!

In the first book, Throne of Glass, Celaena, aka Adarlan’s Assassin, has to compete in a competition for the king of Adarlan, who stripped the land of all magic ten years ago. Now that she won and is the king’s champion, Celaena works for and kills whoever he commands her to, except she is secretly not at all following his rules. This book was much better than the first in that it has more action, emotion and magic. Yep magic! There are mentions of the lost princess of a neighboring country called Terrasen where the king murdered all of the royal family, but rumor has it that she is still out there! OOoooOO!! Lol. Also Dorian, the king’s son has been experiencing…..things….*Cough* Magic *Cough* anyway things, as you can imagine, get sticky for Celaena and her friends as one of her closer dies and she has to figure out who she can trust now that her ally is gone. And the whole book leads up to Chaol learning a certain bit of valuable and coincidental information and you see it coming all along but that part in the ending was the best!

Recommended age:

15+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

There were moments when I felt the feels, like when Celaena sings a song in mourning the loss of her friend.

5.5/10

Violence:

Celaena brutally murders more than ten people in this book. She flies off and has very little self-control and goes on killing sprees that aren’t even apart of her orders from the king. She kills people and beasts and beheadings occur. Talk of blood and flesh being exposed and leaking from wounds are mentioned.

8/10

Sexual content:

Celaena and one of the men she is close to have a sexual relationship. Mentions of her first time and the experience are present, and although realistic they are a little too much for readers under 13 for sure.

7/10

Crude language:

There are quite a bit of minor curse words used throughout the book. Such as “hell” and “damn”

6.5/10

Other elements/comments:

Celaena gives in to her dark side a lot. She won’t kill for the king but for herself and that’s just insane. She finds pleasure in killing, it is what she is good at and something she doesn’t see as wrong. She seems to have no moral center or remorse for what she does and that is disturbing. Please keep in mind that this is not real and such actions are NOT acceptable in any way!!!!!

Overall:

Overall it was interesting to see how the story unfolded and some parts were clever but I do think that the story is dragging on purposelessly. Maas plays off of too many other stories and it’s really obvious too that she has taken elements from other stories and slipped them into her own. I found that highly annoying and found myself rolling my eyes at things like the green flames, use of the phrase “dear heart” or “stone table” (just to name a few) which are all connected to The Chronicles of Narnia. Or things like named swords and a creature that was described exactly as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

6/10

Xoxo

- Sarah

Book Review: Awaken by Christy Sloat

Awaken by Christy Sloat

“As much as I’d love to sit by Sawyer’s bedside and eagerly await a cure, I must first travel into the terrifying Dark Woods to stop Raven from stripping me of all that is rightfully mine. I am not only a queen, but a warrior who will fight for her kingdom. Some may die. Blood will be shed. But when this ending comes, I will settle for nothing less than a blissful ever after.” – GoodReads.com

Awaken is the second book in the Slumber Duology. Book one, Slumber was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty with an incredible twist on the beloved classic. Princess Rory had been taken to an asylum where she was accused of brutally murdering her betrothed, Philip. Rory had no memory of doing so but later when her memories were returned she remembered that Philip was not her true love, Sawyer was, a half-Fae buy who worked in her castle. He was kind and loving but when Raven, Maleficent’s minion wounded him a sleeping curse was bestowed upon him to save him from dying.

Awaken picks up months after Slumber left us and flows nicely back into the story. When we find Aurora now, in Awaken her family has been destroyed because of Maleficent and Raven, Aurora is being crowned queen because of losing her father to Maleficent. Raven has fled the land of Ancora and Rory must find her in order to save Sawyer. As the three beloved fairies work to find the cure to Sawyer’s sleeping curse Rory works hard to train and prepare for Raven’s return to Ancora. Rory will have to do something she has been warned about her whole life, go into the Dark Forest in the hope that she will be able to defeat Raven and cure her beloved of his curse!

I was so honored Christy Sloat sent me an ARC of Awaken! So a HUGE thanks to her for that! I LOVED Slumber and had been waiting for this book and it totally lived up to my expectations!

Recommended age:

14+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

I must say I was feeling the feels. I waited for this book for months and so wanted Sawrora to be okay! Some characters that I really liked got injured or died and that’s just flat out sad! Also her Coronation wasn’t that long or emotional but, shoot if I didn't tear up thinking that her daddy and beau should have been there! Lol!

8/10

Violence:

There are a few moments that can be considered violent, an axe wielding creep, a beheading, a short battle, you know, the expected fantasy stuff!

 4/10

Sexual content:

Several kisses.

3/10

Crude language:

There are minor curse words used throughout the book and some feel very out of place for the setting and what you’d expect for the fairytale dialect. Words like “damn” “hell” and “ass”

6.5/10

Other elements/comments:

A small hint of homosexuality and the conflict that would Rory murdering Raven and Maleficent making her the same as them both or is she justifiably killing? Could she just capture her and keep her in a giant birdcage to suffer for her crimes instead of wanting to kill?

Overall:

Over all I enjoyed the story! Christy’s writing style is the same in both books giving them really nice fluidity! I love the classic Sleeping beauty theme throughout yet the beauty herself is never asleep! I recommend this Duology to lovers of Throne of Glass and The Hunger Games as it has several female leading characters! #SAWRORA FOREVER! …..and also HUGE thanks to Christy for adding the classic pink and blue bit I asked for! Totally just made my life! J

8/10


To purchase books from Christy Sloat click here!

Xoxo

- Sarah

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

So! I was convinced by my awesome friend Neven to read Throne of Glass, it’s her favorite series and she insisted that I give it a go. Before reading this book I had heard SOOO many things about it and all were good! So many people love this series and I see why! The book has hints of all of the classic adventure stories like Narnia, Lord of the Rings and even Oz! It was colorful to say the least!

The story has a TON in it. A lot happens but I don’t know if I’d call it fast pace. So, to not give much away I’ll keep it fairly simple. The main theme is about Celaena Sardothien, an eighteen year-old assassin who is chosen to compete in a contest for the king’s amusement and to become his  champion, (Hunger Games much? Lol!) If Celaena wins this competition she will work for the gross, mean king for four years and then be free. Her criminal charges dropped and she will be free to go far from him and live out a peaceful life. Her freedom is priceless to her and to gain it she is willing to do anything for it! But in the time between she meets several people who she never expected to need to factor into her decision making, like the Captain of the Guard who is dreamy with his warm brown eyes and quietly protective nature, the dashing and flirty prince who is counting on her to win, and the mysterious princess of a neighboring land who she became fast friends with!

Will Celaena win the competition and gain her freedom? Or will she have to flee because of the unexpected and dark turn of events?

#TEAMCHAOL……just saying. 

  

Recommended age:

13+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

SO MANY SHIPPING FEELS. I want her with Chaol, no I want her with Dorian. I can’t choose but I totally ship ME with Chaol, *smirks* There were a few times where I just wanted jump in and give characters a hug. But I didn't cry or anything so I’ll give it a,

5.5/10

Violence:

There are a few mentions of blood smeared, splattered or spraying from bodies. Bodies are mauled and shredded in a very gruesome way.

8/10

Sexual content:

There are a few kisses mentioned but nothing too in-depth.

4/10

Crude language:

Curse words are used throughout the book such as, “bitch” “damn” and  “hell”

5/10

Other elements/comments:

Magic, ghosts and cruel rulers are in the book but what’s a fantasy novel without those elements?

Overall:

Over all I am glad I read it, not sure if I am willing to invest the money and time to read the other 5 books plus the novellas but it was a really good book! If you love fantasy this is for you!

8.5/10

Xoxo

- Sarah